I came across a story the other day of an older couple going through a difficult time.

They're in their late seventies. He's always worked, she was a housewife. She cooked every meal, and he did all the renovating.

He's never learned to use a microwave, and she's never learned to hammer a nail.

This has worked well for them until she was hit with Alzheimer's.

She's still living at home without assistance, but she forgets when it's time to cook meals, and what to buy from the supermarket. He's started to lose weight.

If you've lived most of your life without learning a basic life skill, the loss of a partner can be devastating, and it can be tough to get the help you need to cook nutritious meals, manage complicated finances, look after the house, or even drive a car.

Val French is the Founding President of Older People Speak Out. She says that this isn't an issue she has thought about until now.

"Until I thought about it I didn't realise what a huge impact this would have, if all of a sudden, everything was ripped away from you like that," Val French said.

"The most important thing, I think, is to say to ourselves 'hey, this is not the end of the world, there's got to be a way out of this,'" she added.

For many people the answer is as simple as contacting their family and asking for help, and indeed for many this is a solution to the problem.

But for some, pride, a lack of connection with their family, or a focus on the wellbeing of their ill spouse can stop them from seeking the help they need.

"It's a horrible thing to have to admit "Hey, I need help," I'm the one that's always gone and helped other people," Val French said.

Several callers to 702 ABC Sydney said they or a close relative had found themselves in a similar situation.

"My husband died well before me. He took over the finances when he retired, he put it all on the computer and on an online bank. I had to learn all this, and it was terribly traumatic. For a long time I didn't even know how much money I had," said Win.